Q: What is intermittent fasting and how can it benefit me?

A: Intermittent fasting is not a diet but rather an eating schedule. We all fast when we sleep at night. Intermittent fasting simply increases that fasting window (i.e. skipping breakfast) and allows your body to remain at digestive rest for a longer period. This encourages your body to pull from fat stores for energy.

It may seem counterintuitive to skip breakfast if you’ve been taught that it’s the most important meal of the day. It may be for some, especially someone just getting started eating healthily or someone prone to binge eat, but others can benefit from expanding their fasting window. We have to challenge “the rules” and see what works best for our own bodies! I’ve found that intermittent fasting works very well for me and many other women.

There are a few different ways to implement an intermittent fasting schedule. First, you can fast 24 hours and have one large meal each day. This is called the Warrior Diet. Secondly, and my preferred way, is to have a feeding window of 7-8 hours a day. My feeding window starts at 11 am to 12 noon and goes until around 7 pm at night.

About once per week and on a rest day, I do a 24-hour fast eating dinner one night and breaking my fast at dinner the next night. It’s not bad at all because it’s only skipping 2 meals.

A third way to fast is to complete 24-hour fasts a few times per week. This is called the Eat-Stop-Eat method and seems most popular among men. I would find this pretty difficult whereas the way I intermittent fast comes easy for me. I’m all about simplicity and making things easy!

Now, let’s get back to some of the benefits of intermittent fasting.

4 Benefits of Intermittent Fasting

1. Intermittent fasting makes daily life simpler and less stressful especially when traveling. With a smaller eating window, you are eating fewer meals. This takes the pressure off to prepare and have healthy meals and snacks around constantly! Hallelujah! How convenient and what a time saver on busy days!

Be sure to watch the video below to see how Coach Amanda Tress uses intermittent fasting while on vacation.

2. Intermittent fasting is highly effective for fat loss and muscle gain. It increases human growth hormone while lowering insulin levels which helps with both fat loss and muscle gain! For this reason, fitness professionals have been implementing this effective strategy for many, many years.

3. After just a few days of intermittent fasting, I experienced increased energy, focus, mental clarity, and productivity while in the fasted state. It is an amazing side benefit for me as a homeschooling mom and blogger. Many other ladies that participate in FASTer Way to Fat Loss report this benefit as well!

“This is the best fitness program by far! It is the total package! The workouts are awesome, and I love how the daily meal guidelines sync with the type of exercise for that day! I now have ab and bicep muscles which is incredible!” — Katie

4. Intermittent fasting allows for #IIFYM (if it fits your macros) style eating on heavy lifting days. In the FASTer Way to Fat Loss program, you have macros to meet each day. On heavy lifting days, there is room for discretionary calories (for treats) if it fit within your macros that day! Donuts post-workout, anyone?!?

To conclude this post, I want to point out one thing. With an intermittent fasting protocol, you aren’t dealing with what to eat but when!

In the FASTer Way to Fat Loss program, you are taught when, what, and why to eat! It incorporates intermittent fasting along with carb cycling where you cycle carbs (and calories) to match your workout each day. You can read a little more about carb cycling here.

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